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Tuesday, June 8, 2010

This is a two-for-one post . . . you are getting a Tuesday's True Confession post AND the much anticipated (by me but probably nobody else) announcement of my seventh craft till Christmas all rolled up into one. Aren't you the lucky blog reader? (If you are new here, and wondering why in the world I'm already talking about Christmas crafts, please go to my first post. Trust me, I'm not Christmas crazy.)

Okay, first let's tackle my true confession for this week. I'm both a procrastinator AND a perfectionist. This is without a doubt THE WORST COMBINATION EVER! In case you have no experience with either, let me explain.

Procrastinators put off doing stuff as long as they possibly can until it absolutely MUST be done. For example, during my college years, if I had a paper due on Monday, some sort of force of nature prevented me from doing any writing until Sunday. It was as if it was beyond my control. The kicker was that this practice was only enforced by my professors. If, for some uncanny reason, I happened to write my paper in advance, I always got a lower grade than if I waited until the very last minute to start the writing process. What did I learn from this? Clearly, it's better to wait until the last minute.

Perfectionists have a compulsion to do things as perfectly as possible. This is an extremely annoying personality trait on its own . . . just ask my husband who has graciously learned . . .

1) how to put all the silverware pointing the same exact direction in the drawer and

2) how to fold towels into three sections so they fit evenly in the linen closet.

But pair perfectionism with procrastination, and you get someone who MUST wait until the very last minute to do something that MUST be done perfectly. YIKES! A deadly, or at least highly frustrating combination.

So I've put off announcing my seventh craft till Christmas because I had such a hard time finishing up my eighth craft till Christmas just the way I wanted it. I finished and refinished and then completely redid my mail bags for the pretend and play mail carrier kit, and I'm still not totally thrilled with the way they turned out. (That's the perfectionist in me rearing it's brutal , depressing, bubble-popping head.) But they are done, and I'm refusing to let myself rework them yet again. With the mail carrier bag tutorial that I will be posting tomorrow, I'm closing the book on the pretend and play mail carrier kit.

And I'm opening the book on . . . animal pillows!!!!! "Animal pillows?" you say. YES, animal pillows! I have no idea how to make animal pillows. I suppose like most of my little crafts/Christmas presents, I'll figure it out along the way. And I'll show you how too.

So here's the background on this particular project pick for June . . .

The other day my girls and I were sitting together watching one of the few shows they are allowed to watch . . . The Adventures of Pippi Longstocking. Love this show! We aren't commercial people, so usually I skip right over the commercials. However, on this particular day, I didn't get to the remote fast enough. The first commerical at the break was a commerical for cute, fluffy animal pillows. They are stuffed animals one minute, and with a quick Velcro change, they become pillows. To my girls, this was as amazing as landing someone on the moon. They were drooling all over the TV. And then they looked at me with these big, sad eyes and the oldest said, "Mommy, we NEED one of those!" (This is, of course, why we don't watch commericals)

After a drawn out conversation about the difference between NEEDS and WANTS (it's official, I've turned into my mother), I hatched a secret plan to add the animal pillow idea to my "crafts till Christmas" list.

So . . . due to my procrastination, I now have only three weeks to make two perfect quick-change animal pillows that are pillows by night and cute stuffed animals by day.

Should be interesting and commical and frustrating all at the same time. I hope you'll stick around for the month to encourage me, laugh with me, kick me in the pants when I seem to be stalling, or maybe even join me in making your own animal pillow/stuffed animal.

10 comments:

What a fantastic idea! I wish you luck. I am also a procrastinator and a perfectionist. My husband can completely empathize about the towels. What seems logical to me (if they're folded in thirds, they'll fit in two perfect rows in the closet) is insane and extra work (another whole fold?) to him. Ah, the wonderful men who put up with our crazy ways!

Animal pillows! I have three very battered looking stuffed lion animal pillows. I swear, I can't sleep without one. They're great! Only advice I have: two of my lions have two ribbons to tie them close, one has a velcro fastening. The scratchy side of the velcro bothered me so much when I laid my head on it (I keep turning the pillow around at night) that I finally cut it off. Good luck and I love to see what you come up with! (I imagine the hardest part will be making the animal heads.)

I came to your blog via some other link somewhere and just had to let you know that you have mastered the art of blogging & entertaining very well - had to start with your first post (and was hooked!) and worked my way through to the present one!Can so relate to most of the stuff you say - sewing and otherwise. I'll be following you (easier than doing my own blog or sewing!)!

blogging manners

I try to teach my kids good manners. I'm not sure how successful I've been though. But when I hear them say "please" or "thank you", I know my persistence is paying off. I try to use good manners on my blog too . . . giving credit where credit is due by linking back to projects or ideas from other crafty bloggers. I ask you to do the same. If, in some rare instance, you are inspired enough to blog about something I tried or use an idea you find here, please link back to me (if it's my idea) or the original blogger. Feel free to use my original ideas and tutorials for personal use only (gifts or self) not for profit!